Process of preparing a napalm composition containing a finely divided inert carrier



Patented July 20, 1954 UNETED eras rare FEE PROCESS OF PREPARING ANAPALM COM- POSITION CONTAENING A FINELY DIVIDED INERT CARRIER NoDrawing. Application October 9, 1951, Serial No. 250,560

2 Claims.

This invention relates to improved napalm.

It more particularly relates to an improvement in the process for theproduction of napalm for saponifying a meltedmixture of cocoanut oilfatty acids, naphthenic acid and oleic acid with a sodium hydroxidesolution, precipitating napalm from the saponified mixture by theaddition of hydrated aluminum sulfate and drying the napalm precipitateto form the napalm to be used in the gelling of the gasoline.

The napalm produced according to this method is generally not uniform inappearance and usually consists of crumbly and tacky granular particles.

In order to gel gasoline with the napalm, it has been found necessary toheat the gasoline to about 80 F. prior to the napalm addition and to addxylenol to aid in the gelling. The heating of the gasoline is, ofcourse, extremely dangerous and entails a constant hazard of combustionand explosion. The use of xylenol is very undesirable, as it isextremely toxic, corrosive to the skin, and thus very difficult tohandle.

A process for grinding this crumbly and tacky napalm in order toovercome these difficulties is described in United States patentapplication Serial No. 254,437, filed November 1, 1951, now abandoned.In the process described in this application, this tacky and granularnapalm which is generally unadaptable for grinding, is ground into areactive and uniform pulverulent mass. This grinding, however, is notentirely satisfactory, as it involves additional power use, equipmentand expense.

One object of this invention is the production of a uniform, finelypulverulent napalm without grinding.

A further object of this invention is a napalm which may be used to gelgasoline in a highly satisfactory manner at any temperature abovefreezing.

A still further object of this invention is a napalm which may be usedto gel gasoline in an excellent manner without the addition of xylenol.These and still further objects will become apparent from the followingdescription:

I have now found that a very uniform and finely powdered napalm may beconsistently produced without grinding if an inert carrier material suchas diatomaceous earth, talc, silica gel, activated carbon or alumina isadded during the production of the napalm at any point in the processprior to the drying.

The inert carrier material should be finely divided and have a particlesize which will at least predominantly pass through a -mesh screen, andshould preferably predominantly pass through a 200-mesh screen. Theinert carrier material should be added in an amount of at least about 5%by weight of the total napalm formed and should preferably be present inamonut of about 20% by weight of the total napalm formed. Though thereis no upper limit on the amount of inert carrier material which may beused, I have found that it is not advisable to use in excess of about20% by weight with reference to the total napalm formed in that toolarge a proportional amount of the inert carrier may act as a diluentand necessitate a relatively larger amount of napalm for the gelling ofthe gasoline.

Though the inert carrier may be added at any point in the process priorto the drying of the napalm, I have found it preferable to add the inertcarrier material after filtering the saponified mixtures of the organicacids and prior to the addition of the aluminum sulfate. I have alsofound it advantageous to add an additional amount of the inert carriermaterial after the saponified mixture is precipitated by the aluminumsulfate. This additional inert carrier material may be added after theprecipitate has been filtered and the filtrate mixed with clean water.At Whatever point the inert carrier is added to the process, it isnecessary that the same be thoroughly mixed and dispersed in thereactants.

The details of the invention will be more clearly illustrated from thefollowing examples which are given solely for this purpose and are notintended in any way to limit the scope of the invention:

Example 1 25 grams of cocoanut oil fatty acids, 12.5 grams of naphthenicacid and 12.5 grams of oleic acid were melted together and added to1,600 cc. of water containing 11.5 grams of 95% powdered sodiumhydroxide. The solution was heated to F. and stirred for ten minutes. 5grams of activated carbon were added and the stirring continued for fiveminutes. The solution was then filtered and the clear filtrate cooled toroom temperature. 10 grams of a diatomaceous earth sold under the tradename of Celite were added 3 to the cooled, clear filtrate. 3'7 grams ofA12(SO4)318H2O were dissolved in 100 cc. of water and then slowly addedto the clear filtrate containing the Celite. A napalm Celite mixtureprecipitated. This mixture was filtered and transferred to a beaker withclean water and grams more of Celite added with stirring. The mixturewas filtered and the filtered cake washed and dried in an oven at C. Thedried product obtained was very fine and broke up easily into a fine,uniform, light powder. This fine powdery napalm C'elite mixture provedvery excellent for the gelling of gasoline. Conventional amounts willgel aviation gasoline in 23 seconds at F. and five minutes and 55seconds at 32 F. No additive such as xylenol was needed to aid in thegelling.

Example 2 The process as set forth in Example 1 was repeated, using inturn silica gel, talc, activated carbon and alumina. The silica gel andtalc produced a napalm composition which was equal in every manner tothat formed with the Celite. The alumina and activated carbon eachproduced a napalm composition superior to that produced by conventionalmethods and which could be used for gelling gas at temperatures below 0.without the use of xylenol. The product obtained with the use of thecarbon black and alumina did not, however, reach the overall excellenceof that obtained with the use of Celite silica gel.

Though the napalm treated in the above examples is a napalm produced inthe conventional manner with the use of cocoanut oil, fatty acids,naphthenic acids and oleic acids, the new process is applicable for usein the production of napalm with any organic acids or variations of theorganic acids conventionally used for this purpose.

It is thus apparent that the invention essentially comprises theaddition of an inert carrier such as diatomaceous earths, silica gel,activated carbon or alumina having a particle size at least small enoughto predominantly pass through a mesh screen and preferably finer to thereactants used in the production of napalm at any point in the processprior to the drying thereof, in amount equal to at least 5% by weight ofthe napalm formed.

I claim:

1. In the process for the production of an aluminum soap of a mixture ororganic acids selected from cocoanut oil fatty acids, naphthenic acidand oleic acid, adapted on addition to gasoline to cause a gellingthereof, which process includes saponifying a mixture of said organicacids with sodium hydroxide, thereby producing a sodium soap of saidorganic acids, followed by precipitation of the aluminum soap of saidorganic acids by adding aluminum sulfate to an aqueous solution of saidsodium soap, and thereafter drying the said aluminum soap, theimprovemnt which comprises adding to and dispersing into said materialsprior to said drying from 5-20% by weight of the aluminum soap so formedof a finely divided inert carrier having a particle size which will atleast predominantly pass through a 100 mesh screen, selected from atleast one member of the group consisting of diatomaceous earth, silicagel, talc, activated carbon and alumina, and after said dryingrecovering a uniform pulverulent aluminum soap.

2. Process according to claim 1 in which at least part of said fineldivided inert carrier is added to and dispersed in said materials aftersaid saponification and prior to said precipitation.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 704,364 Pefier July 8, 1902 1,968,628 Alton July 31, 19342,207,737 Hooft et al. July 16, 1940 2,390,609 Minich Dec. 11, 1945

1. IN THE PROCESS FOR THE PRODUCTION OF AN ALUMINUM SOAP OF A MIXTURE OFORGANIC ACIDS SELECTED FROM COCOANUT OIL FATTY ACIDS, NAPHTHENIC ACIDAND OLEIC ACID, ADAPTED ON ADDITION TO GASOLINE TO CAUSE A GELLINGTHEREOF, WHICH PROCESS INCLUDES SAPONIFYING A MIXTURE OF SAID ORGANICACIDS WITH SODIUM HYDROXIDE, THEREBY PRODUCING A SODIUM SOAP OF SAIDORGANIC ACIDS, FOLLOWED BY PRECIPITATION OF THE ALUMINUM SOAP OF SAIDORGANIC ACIDS BY ADDING ALUMINUM SULFATE TO AN AQUEOUS SOLUTION OF SAIDSODIUM SOAP, AND THEREAFTER DRYING THE SAID ALUMINUM SOAP, THEIMPROVEMENT WHICH COMPRISES ADDING TO AND DISPERSING INTO SAID MATERIALSPRIOR TO SAID DRYING FROM 5-20% BY WEIGHT OF THE ALUMINUM SOAP SO FORMEDOF A FINELY DIVIDED INERT CARRIER HAVING A PARTICLE SIZE WHICH WILL ATLEAST PREDOMINANTLY PASS THROUGH A 100 MESH SCREEN, SELECTED FROM ATLEAST ONE MEMBER OF THE GROUP CONSISTING OF DIATOMACEOUS EARTH, SILICAGEL, TALC, ACTIVATED CARBON AND ALUMINA, AND AFTER SAID DRYINGRECOVERING A UNIFORM PULVERULENT ALUMINUM SOAP.